In a Knights Templar village with a backdrop of imposing Cross Fell mountain, a Georgian mansion and converted coach house are home to a personable small hotel.

‘There’s lots of room to play and run around’ at this ‘pretty, rambling manor house’ in ‘fantastic grounds’ on the edge of the Cotswolds.

‘A quintessential country house hotel.’ The Quinion family’s creeper-covered manor house in mature grounds ‘combines the familiar features and decor of an earlier age with exceptional service’, writes a Guide reader, a frequent guest, in 2017.

‘An ideal place to slow down and relax.’

‘There is much to like and laugh about’ at this utterly transformed Grade I listed Elizabethan manor house, in a ‘glorious setting’ in the Otter valley.

‘The Michelin star is well earned’ at Tracy and Galton Blackiston’s friendly restaurant-with-rooms close to the north Norfolk coast.

‘Stylish but informal, fun and relaxing – a grand job overall.’

A spirit of fun flits about Teresa and Kevin O’Sullivan’s cliff-top hotel, from the sub-tropical sculpture garden full of surprises (‘you feel like Alice walking into Wonderland’) to the ‘delightfully humorous artwork scattered throughout’.

‘You can hear the sounds of birds all around’ this converted 14th-century farmhouse.

‘The valley in which this inn sits seems to me one of the loveliest places on earth; from the back of the inn, the views of fells, river and parkland landscape are just about perfect. And the stillness at night is magical.’

‘Timeless standards of comfort’ keep guests coming back to this Italianate mansion ‘in a wonderful position’ on the River Usk.

Approached via quiet lanes bordered by hedgerows and dark-limbed trees, Jean-Pierre Mifsud’s Victorian hunting lodge-turned-country house hotel stands in extensive grounds stretching to a lake on the River Irfon.

Overlooking a bay on the Argyll coast, Calum and Rachel Ross’s ‘friendly, good-value’ country house, next door to the exotic Arduaine Garden, is in ‘the most stunning spot’.

‘Everything is presented with care and style’ at Sally and David Ruthven-Fox’s small hotel on the ‘peaceful shores’ of Loch Sunart.

Arrive to a complimentary glass of champagne, at Laurence and Katie Mackay’s Victorian country house hotel on the Isle of Mull.

‘Everything is done with a smile and a bit of banter’ at Jean Urquhart’s ‘warm and welcoming’ bookshop-with-rooms, formed from a clutch of whitewashed cottages in this old fishing village.

‘It’s a spectacular drive’ to this whitewashed manse in an ‘extraordinary setting’ on the west coast of Harris.

Friendly, folksy, ‘comfy and unpretentious’, Gill and Archie MacLellan’s ‘terrific inn’ stands in ‘a glorious location’ on the shores of Loch Fyne.

Down an avenue of lime trees stands this characterful hotel, its apricot-washed facade a welcome sight to its legions of loyal fans.

A short stroll from the beach, this ‘top-of-the-class’, ‘exceptionally family-friendly’ hotel is ‘in a great cliff-top location’ overlooking the sea.

Up the tree- and hedgerow-lined road from the National Arboretum, this Cotswold-stone country hotel stands in gardens and woodland.

‘We were thoroughly spoiled.’ Mena and Robyn Aitchison are much appreciated by Guide readers for the 'wonderful hospitality’ at their ‘well-located’ Georgian stone cottage-orné outside Inverness.

‘It’s like being a guest at a country house in an extraordinarily beautiful location,’ say Guide readers this year.

In a ‘marvellous Derbyshire Dales setting’, supporters of James Moffett’s rustic, laid-back hotel find much to like: ‘a warm welcome’, ‘decent home-cooked dinners’, ‘quiet, comfortable rooms’.